Early Review - Cast in Peril (Chronicles of Elantra, Book 8) by Michelle Sagara (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 544 pages
Publisher: Harlequin Luna
Release Date: September 18, 2012
ISBN: 978-0373803507
Stand Alone or Series: 8th book in the Chronicles of Elantra
Source: eGalley from NetGalley.com
Rating: 3/5 stars

This is the seventh book in the Chronicles of Elantra series. The eighth book will be titled Cast in Sorrow and is scheduled for a 2013 release. This book was very similar to other books in the series; there are some fun new additions but the story progresses very slowly.

Kaylin is trying to juggle a number of things: her new dragon roommate, helping out the Midwives, her job as a Hawk, and both magical and political training with various Dragons. All of these things are brought to a halt when she is magically attacked in her home. People have been disappearing in the fifes and it is up to Kaylin to figure out why. Then Nightshade calls in the favor he requested from the Hawks in exchange for the intel he gave them in the last book; this is a favor that involves Kaylin leaving the City and heading outside of the Empire.

There are some neat additions to the series in this book. Kaylin gains a familiar and she actually leaves the city to head outside the Empire. Despite these additions I still find these books to be wordy and move slowly. I always start these books so excited to read more about the characters and then by the end I feel like I've been reading the book forever...and not in a good way.

The first part of the story focuses on Kaylin trying to help solve the mystery behind a number of disappearances happening in the fifes. Kind of the in the middle of this investigation the story switches gears. Kaylin is forced to leave with the Barrani and join them on their journey to West March.

I was a bit disappointed at the lack of resolution in this story. Kaylin never even reaches West March. Kaylin is thrust into a number of bizarre and ambiguous magical situations in preparation of her arrival there, but never arrives. Some of the situations she ends up in are a bit hard to follow and I found my mind wandering as I read.

We do learn a lot about Teela’s past and that is very interesting. The addition of the small dragon familiar is also very mysterious and intriguing. The uncertainty around what will happen when Kaylin finally reaches West March also helps to propel the story forward.

Definitely not a book to start the series on. You will have to start from the beginning to get into this series; the number of plots and characters involved has gotten increasingly complicated from book to book.

Overall I am still having some mixed feelings about this series (which I have had since the third or fourth book of the series). There are some interesting additions to the story; the familiar adds a lot of interest and having Kaylin venture into unknown territory is intriguing. But, as with previous books, the book is wordy and the plot moves at a snail’s pace. Many of the magical things Kaylin ends up involved in are ambiguous and hard to picture. If you are a huge fan of this series, I think you will love this book. If you have been on the fence with previous books, this book is more of the same.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge

Review - Cast in Ruin (Chronicles of Elantra, Book 7) by Michelle Sagara (3/5 stars)

Reading level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 464 pages
Publisher: Luna
Release Date: September 20, 2011
ISBN: 978-0373803309
Stand Alone or Series: 7th book in the Chronicles of Elantra
Source: Borrowed through library
Rating: 3/5 stars

This is the seventh book in the Chronicles of Elantra by Sagara. I had very mixed feelings about this book. The beginning of this book was slow moving and confusing, but the ending was very interesting. This series just moves so slowly I am really starting to question what direction it is heading in.

Kaylin is still struggling to balance her life. Between her duties as a Hawk, etiquette and magic lessons with dragons, and assisting the midwifes she has a full plate. Then Sanabalis requests her presence in the new dragon fief; there are murders happening there...strange thing is that it is the same woman is being murdered. Her body is turning up murdered over and over. Then with the arrival of a new stranger called the Ascendant things get even stranger. Kaylin is drawn into it all and has to solve the murders before things get even worse for Elantra.

I felt like Kaylin is running around frantic in this book, she never gets a break. She never gets to sleep or eat or have a teeny bit of down time. There isn't a ton of Nightshade in this book, he's in the story just a tiny bit. Kaylin also doesn't spend any time with her midwife duties. Severn remains Kaylin's shadow; he kind of chases her around and keeps her out of trouble. I really wish Severn was developed more as a character.

All the above aside, the dragons do have some interesting character development. You learn a lot about the Arkon's past and he is in the story a significant amount. Tiamiras, Sanabalis, and the Lady are also in the story a significant amount. As a result of all of the activities relating to dragons you learn a lot about their race and their past. A new dragon is added to the already volatile mix of dragons; I really enjoyed the addition of this new dragon.

Kaylin's powers continue to grow but also continue to remain mysterious. Kaylin doesn't continue any of her magic training in this book but is instead spends time taking etiquette lessons with a different dragon to prepare for her meeting with the Emperor (which still hasn't happened).

It's not that these books aren't well written; it's that there are so many little things going on that it makes the story move very slowly. The time period covered in this novel is very short, things are very complicated, and at times very confusing. Despite Kaylin's growing powers she has the same problems from book to book (being late, not getting to eat, not committing to Severn, not being dressed properly, etc) she just seems somewhat stagnant to me. Severn could be an awesome character but, as with the last book, we barely heard from him.

I love this world and I think the plot is interesting; there is just too much going on and it is squished into too short of a time...yet it seems like the story is moving so slowly. The characters that I loved from the first few books in this series have grown stagnant. The best part of this book was the addition of a new, and rather snarky, dragon character.

The book wraps up okay, there is still a lot left unsettled and I am having a hard time seeing where all of this is going.

Overall this was an okay addition to the series. I loved the dragon history and the addition of a new dragon character. I did not enjoy how the story started so slow; how hectic and confusing...yet slow moving the plot has been. I did not enjoy how none of the characters seemed to change or grow. I also didn't enjoy the small parts some of my favorite characters were given. The book is technically well written and the world is wonderful but I am having a hard time seeing where this series is going. If the next book, Cast in Peril, is indeed the last in the series I will read it...if not I think I will hold off for a bit to see if things start coming together a bit better for this series. With the exception of this book and parts of the last book, this has been an excellent fantasy series.

Review - Cast in Chaos (Chronicles of Elantra, Book 6) by Michelle Sagara (3/5 stars)

This is the 6th book in the Chronicles of Elantra series.  The 7th book Cast in Ruins is due out in 2011 and there are currently 8 books on contract for this series.  This book was okay, but like the last book in the series, focuses more on philosophy and metaphysical stuff than the great fight scenes that I loved to see Kaylin and Severn in.  My overall impression was that this book was wordy and long.

In this book Kaylin is supposed to be stepping up studies on her magic lessons and starting etiquette lessons to prepare her for a meeting with the Dragon Emperor.  Instead her and Severn run into strange magical goings on in one of the streets of Elantra.  There is a circle of magic strangeness in the city of Elantra and,, as more and more of the Oracles portent the coming of something huge and destructive, Kaylin is drawn into the race to save the city.  It may be up to Kaylin as The Chosen One to stop the Devourer from ending their world.

Okay, first I will say that Sagara introduces this book by saying that each book is separate and can be read as a stand-alone.  While it is true that these books are somewhat separate mysteries and are not as tied together as say an epic fantasy is...I don't think they stand alone very well.  At this point the cast of characters is so huge and the history that affects each of the characters is so complex that I was lost coming back into this series after a year...I can't imagine starting the series with this book.

Onto the things I really liked.  Severn is finally in this book more, in the previous book he was kind of a wallflower.  Finally in this book he has a great influence in Kaylin's life and start to really direct some of the events that are happening.  We get to see more of the Elemental Garden, which was great...I love this creative idea and learning more about it was wonderful.  Also we learn more about Nightshade and the Dragons in this book and about the history of Elantra; so that really helped to fill out the story.

I really really missed the action though.  In the previous book despite her small stature and personality flaws Kaylin could really kick butt; we never see that in this book.  There is not one single fight scene.  Kaylin still carries her convictions, but she spends more time talking in circles and frantically making appointments with various power figures than anything else.  There were large portions of this book I literally fell asleep reading.

A ton of time is spent dealing with the metaphysical aspects of the Elemental Garden and with Kaylin trying to talk a God around to its home.  I really seriously believe that this could have been wrapped up in a couple of well-written sentences; instead it took Sagara 300 pages to do it.  As soon as you get Kaylin in the Gardens and they figure out the Elemental stuff, you as a reader know what the outcome is.  There are more books in the series so supposedly you already know the whole world isn't going to end.  There are no surprises, everything plays out as the characters predicted it would play out.  The problem is it takes 300 pages of vague description and talking, predicting, theorizing, etc to get to this final point.  I honestly almost didn't finish this book.  I loved the first four books in this series.  I did not like the last one much, and this book followed in the footprints of that one.

The above being said I do love the wonderfully creative world Sagara has created, I love the characters, and overall I enjoy Sagara's writing style.  She is a very good writer.  But this book drove me crazy, it was just so wordy and predictable.

Overall, this was my least favorite book in the series.  I wasn't big on book 5 either.  At this point I am trying to decide if I will keep reading this series, I really loved the first four books and enjoy the world and characters so I just don't know at this point.

This book goes towards the following reading challenge:
- The 100+ Book Reading Challenge

 

Cast in Silence (Chronicles of Elantra, Book 5) by Michelle Sagara (3/5 stars)

This is the fifth book in the Chronicles of Elantra series by Sagara. Originally Sagara was contracted for five books, but it looks like that's been extended to eight books total. This was definitely not the best book in the series. It was still a good read, but at times I was really bored.

In this book Kaylin is sent to investigate some strange goings on in the fiefs. For once her journey doesn't take her to the fief of Nightshade, but to the fief of Barren where Kaylin lived out 6 months of her life that she would rather forget and has never shared with anyone. Kaylin, Severn, and the dragon end up finding more about the dark heart of the fief than they had ever imagined.

There was a lot of good stuff in this book. You learn more about Kaylin's past and more about the fiefs. In fact the majority of the story takes place in the fiefs. I liked this a lot since the fiefs have kind of remained a mystery. You also learn more about the dark heart of the fiefs, about the dragons as a race, and about Nightshade's past. I really like Nightshade as a character so more info about him was a good thing. Overall the book was well-written, but there were quite a few things that bothered me.

So...on to the things I didn't like. Severn was mostly present as a place holder for most of the book. In fact there were many scenes where he was supposedly in the scene but he did so little I couldn't remember if he had left the scene or not. He talked rarely and mostly just stood there and let Kaylin do her thing. Kaylin spent a lot of the beginning on the book talking about how awful her past in Barren was, but when it all came down to it, most of the the people around her knew most of her past and didn't care. So, I had some trouble figuring out why Kaylin made such a big deal about all of that.

The story was going along okay until they got into the scene where they enter the Tower the first time. Then the book really starts to drag and get pretty darn boring. I had a lot of trouble enjoying the second half of the book because it just went too slow. I also get a little sick of the fact that Kaylin always seems to be exhausted and stressed out about everything. I was also a little surprised, that Kaylin doesn't even have a second of time to deal with her relationships with Severn and/or Nightshade. She kind of ignores them most of the time. I guess with Nightshade I can understand that since he has all the time in the world, but I was surprised Severn's role was so truncated.

Overall it was an okay read. I think all the things that we learn about the fiefs and the origins of the Empire outweigh the bad pacing and whiny Kaylin; but I really was bored the last half of the book. I am still interesting to see how things pan out in the next book, now that we know more about the heart of the fiefs. So, I will read the next book, but I will get it from the library.

Cast in Fury by Michelle Sagara (4/5 stars)

This is the fourth book in the Cast series by Michelle Sagara. Last I read there are going to be five books in this series. This was a great book and really added to the series.

In this book Kaylin finds out that Hawk's Seargent, Marcus, has been accused of murder. On top of this after stopping the tidal wave from destroying the city; people fear the Tha'alani more than ever. Kaylin and Severn are assigned to work at the palace with the Imperial playwright to help him write a play that will help the populace to understand the Tha'alani better. Kaylin is again run ragged as she tries to help Marcus and help protect the Tha'alani.

This was a good book for this series. Maybe not my favorite of the series, but you find out more about Kaylin's potential. Severn was steadfast in his support of Kaylin and Sanabalis continues to be a favorite character of mine. You learn a ton about the Leotine race in this book; I really enjoy that race and was happy to learn more about it. I was a bit disappointed that more time wasn't spend with Nightshade as he is another one of my favorite characters. Kaylin actually matures some in this book and grows as a character so that was nice to see.

Overall this was a well-written, fast-paced fantasy-adventure. It was heavy on intrigue and magic. I enjoyed it a lot and look forward to reading the next book in the series.

Cast in Secret by Michelle Sagara (4/5 stars)

This is the third book in the Chronicles of Elantra series by Michelle Sagara. It has been getting mixed reviews but I have to say I really enjoyed it. I mean you couldn't barely pry me away from the book, so that should say something about it.

In this book Kaylin and Severn are trying to track down a couple young girls that have been kidnapped. There is some nice character development between Kaylin and Lord Nightshade. You learn a lot more about the race of the Tha'alani, which is pretty interesting. In fact a lot of the book focuses on the Tha'alani. Kaylin learns, much to her dismay, more about her magic.

Overall I really liked this book. It was interesting to learn about the Tha'alani and you get to learn some more about the history of Elantra. I really don't like Kaylin as a character too much, she has kind of grown on me like a fungus, but I love the supporting cast. I think the different races in the book are very interesting. I also really like the elemental magic in this book; it was a neat idea and fun to read about.

There are a couple of things that did irritate me about this book. We all know that Kaylin has a weak spot for children, we get it. I really don't need that beat into me anymore than it already has been. It also kind of bothers me that this book is never quit sure about Kaylin's relationship to the men around her. For some reason all the guys are very protective of her yet, you can't figure out if there is any romance there; they all treat here like she is a young teenager or something. Maybe this ambiguity in Kaylin's relationships with the men around her is part of the charm of the book.

I am interested to see how all of the story arcs tie together; the overall series sometimes seems like it doesn't know where it is going. Still I really enjoyed this book, even though I am not really sure why. I will definitely read the next book in the series.